C’est l’heure du fait accompli

English translation: It is the hour of reckoning

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	C’est l’heure du fait accompli
English translation:	It is the hour of reckoning
Entered by:	Carol Gullidge

11:13 Feb 10, 2011

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / death/afterlife

French term or phrase: C’est l’heure du fait accompli

C’est l’heure du cercueil, de l’hommage frissonnant qui parle aux murs, de l’enfouissement définitif dans la chair terreuse de la mère planète. ******C’est l’heure du fait accompli****** : « Ah, c’était quelqu’un celui-là ! Dommage qu’il ne vivra plus telle et telle chose ! Et dire qu’elle ne verra pas naître son petit-fils ! Si seulement il avait pu voir ça ! Mon Dieu, il est parti en pleine jeunesse ! Trop tard ou trop tôt !... Nul ne le saura jamais. »

_____________

I can't make sense of this! It clearly refers to the phrases following the colon that are commonly said about a person who has just died, but I'm at a loss as to how to describe these, especially in the context of "fait accompli", which seems to bear no relation to my understanding of the term. I'm toying with 'truisms', but wonder if that doesn't miss something...?

The biographer is about to make a revelation about the words La Mort and L'Ame hors, to explain why death is not as final as one supposes, but the lead-up is a very lengthy passage on death and all that is associated with it ....

Any help with unravelling this would be most appreciated - many thanks!

Carol Gullidge KudoZ activity Questions: 352 (1 open) (1 without valid answers) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 2710 United Kingdom
Local time: 13:05

It is the hour of reckoning

Explanation:
Expresses the finality of death, as does the source sentence, but in different terms.

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Note added at 14 mins (2011-02-10 11:27:39 GMT)
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I admit I'm not terribly satisfied with this, and will come back on discussion if I think of anything better. I'll discuss it with a colleague this afternoon.

Selected response from:

claude-andrew
France
Local time: 14:05

Grading comment

thanks so much everyone - some terrific suggestions here (including in the Discussion box), which will remain for future reference in the Glossary. But this fits the bill very nicely!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +6

It is the hour of reckoning

claude-andrew

4 +4

It (a life) is all over and done with

kashew

3 +4

moment of finality

Colin Rowe

4 +1

The time has come

Sarah Bessioud

It's time to come to terms with it all

ACOZ (X)

2 +1

There's no turning back (now)...

Marian Vieyra

It is the point of no return/the die is now cast

bcsantos

Now is the time for it to be all said and done

MatthewLaSon

it's the time of all things final

Sandra C.

Discussion entries: 11

Answers

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

It is the hour of reckoning

claude-andrew
France
Local time: 14:05
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

thanks so much everyone - some terrific suggestions here (including in the Discussion box), which will remain for future reference in the Glossary. But this fits the bill very nicely!

Notes to answerer

Asker: brilliant - actually I think this is pretty neat! thanks!

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

moment of finality

Explanation:
The concept of "finality" springs to mind here, possibly in conjunction with "moment of" - the idea that it is all over, that there is no going back (even though the author is about to reveal, as you say, that there is a way forward).

There seem to be plenty of examples to be found in the web. Here are just a couple:

"How he longed for his own *moment of finality*, for his turn to be done with this sordid, unnatural temporal plane!"

http://www.amazon.de/Chronicles-Riddick-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/...

The event of death, the *moment of finality* and loss, ...

http://books.google.de/books?id=nSGdywRNEmcC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA6...

Colin Rowe
Germany
Local time: 14:05
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: I like this one too! thanks!

24 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

It (a life) is all over and done with

Explanation:
* maybe use fait accompli in English?

kashew
France
Local time: 14:05
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks! I think that's the idea, although I think Colin perhaps expresses a similar idea only more neatly? I had considered using 'fait accompli', but rejected that idea on the grounds that it still wouldn't mean much

Asker: 'end of the line' is great, too!

36 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

There's no turning back (now)...

Explanation:
Perhaps?

Marian Vieyra
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

Notes to answerer

Asker: thanks Marian! this certainly has a nice ring of finality about it!

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

The time has come

Explanation:
"The time has come" (as opposed to HIS time has come), or perhaps "It's the moment of truth"?

Sarah Bessioud
Germany
Local time: 14:05
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

Notes to answerer

Asker: thanks Jeux de Mots! I'm not yet sure how this would fit into the sentence, but I love "moment of truth" anyway!

11 hrs confidence:

It is the point of no return/the die is now cast

Explanation:
Just thought of these two!

bcsantos
Gibraltar
Local time: 14:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 16

12 hrs confidence:

Now is the time for it to be all said and done

Explanation:
Hello,

That's how I read it here, considering that what comes after the colon refers to the person as having died.

I hope this helps.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2011-02-11 00:15:12 GMT)
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Au total, à l'heure du fait accompli, l'analyse statistique du corpus souligne que les médias français se focalisent avant tout sur les ...
geoconfluences.ens-lsh.fr/doc/etpays/.../ChineScient7.htm

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 08:05
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

13 hrs confidence:

It's time to come to terms with it all

Explanation:
Or "come to terms with his passing", since those present obviously think he has died at this point in the book.

ACOZ (X)
Australia
Local time: 21:35
Native speaker of: English

22 hrs confidence:

it's the time of all things final

Explanation:
une autre idée :)

bonne chance.

Sandra C.
France
Local time: 14:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 12

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English translation: It is the hour of reckoning

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